Fuel to the Fire
by siriuslybritish
Summary: James and Mattie are constantly at each other's throats, and James has this crazy idea in his head that Mattie loves him. There has to be some reason as to why she 'acts so mean all the time! Can James figure out this reason, and figure out just why his old friend is ticked at him all the time? If he can, can he change things? -Rated T-
1. Prologue

**A/N- Here it is- my very first James Potter story! I've tried my absolute best on this story and I'm very excited about it! I hope you like it! Thank you for reading, and don't get to review and favorite! Enjoy, love! :)**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, all rights go to Queen J.K. Rowling.**_

Fuel to the Fire

Prologue-

"Seven minutes in heaven tonight!" I sang under my breath.

"Jamesie, I don't know if you knew, but you've repeated that at least a hundred times by now." Sirius said. He was sprawled out on my bed, laying on his back reading a Quidditch magazine.

"Sirius is right, you have." Remus agreed. He sat on his bed with his nose in a book.

"Sor-ry!" I rolled my eyes. "I'm just excited!"

"Me too, mate." Sirius put down the magazine. He waggled his eyebrows. "Almost every girl in fifth year will be at this party, and _I'm_ going to kiss them all." He said in a sing-song voice. He always went after the older girls… except for a few hot ones in our year.

"_All _of them?" Remus asked, one brow raised. Sirius nodded goofily. "Sirius, there won't be time. Everybody has to take a turn at the game."

"There'll always be time for good old Siri." he winked. Remus scrunched up his nose and went back to his book, while Sirius and I both laughed.

"So, where's Peter?" I asked. Sirius shrugged.

"Haven't seen him since Transfiguration… And probably won't see him at this party."

I nodded.

Peter had been acting weird lately and we hadn't seen much of him. I didn't really care though, because, to be honest, I didn't even care much for Peter.

Me, Sirius, and Remus headed to the Room of Requirement for the party about an hour later. We all looked pretty great, especially me.

As soon as we went inside, the room got quiet. And then, before we knew it, me and Sirius were attacked by a thousand squealing, hot girls. Remus wandered off- if only he'd known what he was missing!

Me and Sirius enjoyed all the attention for a while. All we had to do to get the girls to swoon was smile. It was heaven, for a while, but then something caught my eye.

Standing towards the back of the room, with a bunch of guys around her, stood Mattie O'Leary. The hottest girl to ever live (Now at the time I did have my Lily-pad, but I had to be honest with myself- Lily was pretty, but Mattie was hot).

Mattie lived right across from me. We grew up together, but…well; our relationship isn't what you might think it is. We kind of hate each other.

Sure, she was hot, but she always tries to do better than me with everything! She can't take losing! And it seems like all she ever wants to do is pick on me and yell at me and all sorts of things!

That night, I tried to make a move on her (Lily wasn't there, so she wouldn't ever know). I left all those girls behind and walked right over to her. A few of the guys left, since I'm so intimidating. They knew they didn't have a chance.

"Hey, Mat. Did you know we're playing Seven minutes in Heaven, later?" I smirked, one eye brow cocked. "If you're lucky, you'll get to go into that closet with _me_."

"If we had to go into that closet, you'd be the lucky one, Potter." She said, taking a sip of her drink. The girls around her giggled and the guys snickered.

I rolled my eyes and walked away.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! Gather around! It's time to play Seven Minutes in Heaven!"

"If you don't know how to play, I'll explain! Every guy has to put something in this bag. Then, the girls have to pick something out of the bag- without looking- and whoever's item they grab has to go into the closet with them for seven minutes!"

The bag went around with the guys really quick. When it came to me, I put in my glasses. No one had glasses like me (since they're only made for a king).

I looked over a smirked evilly at Mat, who stuck her tongue out at me.

The first people to go into the closet- believe it or not- were Remus and some blonde girl. Later, Sirius went in with _two _fifth years (however that worked). Finally, the bag came around to Mat. There were still lots of things in the bag. I could see about four guys crossing their fingers… not counting myself.

Mat's hand started to come out of the bag but she froze and looked totally shocked. She glanced at me with wide eyes and then pulled something out of the bag.

_My glasses. _

I kept the same evil smirk on my face as I walked over to her. I tried to take her hand, but she pulled it away and started walking towards the closet.

"Eager, are we?" I said. She growled and opened the closet door. We both went in and were surrounded by darkness as the door shut behind us. "Take your stupid glasses." Mat said as she handed me my glasses.

"Someone's cranky." I said. "Like usual…"

"What was that, Potter?"

"Oh, come on. Call me Jamie."

"That's a girl's name." she scoffed.

"I know you like it." I whispered.

"Whatever." She gave a fake laugh.

I groaned.

"I was _trying _to be nice to you, but obviously you don't want that! Whats your problem?" I snapped.

"You!" she poked my chest.

I rolled my eyes, and, suddenly, I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close to me. I leaned down and was just about to kiss her, but, then, she slapped me!

The bird slapped me!

"What the hell was that for?" I asked.

"You tried to kiss me!" she pushed me away.

"That's the point of this game!" I pushed her back.

"Gr… I will _never _kiss you in my life, nor will I ever be friends with you or ANYTHING!" she growled.

"Right back at you!" I said angrily. I tried to open the door. "Ugh, c'mon!"

"Turn it to the left, James." She sighed. "Idiot…"

I opened the door and stormed out.

"Dumb bird…" I said under my breath as I stormed out of the closet. People were staring at me with entertained faces. I later found out that I had a hand print on my cheek, and everyone found it

"I heard that, you jerk!" she called. I rolled my eyes, once again, and just left the room.

I think that's when everything got _awful_. All we do is fight and complain and tease each other, and a lot of times we actually fight or wrestle. We used to just pick on each other and keep our distance.

Her pretending that she hates me can only mean one thing.

_She loves me._

**A/N- Alright! Next Chapter will be up soon! Thank you so much for reading! **

**Leave a review and hit me with some criticism! Also, if you have any ideas you'd like to share, or events you'd like to see, or whatever, don't hesitate to tell me! Thank you, again! 3**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N- Here's Chapter One! Enjoy! Thanks for reading!**

Chapter One- **James Potter**

"I could take you down any day!" Mattie O'Leary pointed in my face. I rolled my eyes and pushed her hand down.

"Yeah, right." I sneered. She clenched her jaw.

"I could." She growled. She had before; we fought all the time. But that escaped my mind at the time.

"You're too short." I smirked. That's when she snapped and before I knew, I was in the floor!

Of course… _I purposely fell to the floor so she would feel good. And it probably looked like she had me in a head lock, but she was actually just… hugging me._

"What was that, Potter?" she asked.

"You're…short…" I said. She _hugged _me a little harder.

"Miss O'Leary!" a teacher cried from behind us. She turned her head and put on her stupid little good girl act.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" she asked. I _pretended _to choke.

"Let go of Mr. Potter!" Minnie cried. She immediately let go and I jumped up. "This is the fourth time this week that I have found you choking Mr. Potter! Detention, tonight at eight, with Professor Binns!"

"But Professor-" Mat was cut off.

"No buts!" Minnie said.

"Yes ma'am…"

"Ha-ha…" I laughed and fixed my collar. "Sucker."

"Mr. Potter!" Minnie yelled.

"Yes?" I turned on my heel and flashed my cutest smile. Mat was glaring daggers at me.

"Detention, tonight at eight with Professor Binns!" Minnie said, her hands on her hips.

"What?! Why?"

"I know you started the fight." She sighed. "You always do."

"But Professor, I really didn't this time!" I cried.

"Oh, as if!" Mat scoffed.

"Hey! Shut up!" I said, narrowing my brown eyes.

"Make me!" she countered. We were about to get up in each other's faces but then-

"ENOUGH!"

Mat and I quit arguing. We looked at Professor McGonagall, whose face was red.

"Both of you get to class." She turned around and walked back down the hallway, to her classroom. I glared at Mat.

"Nice going." I groaned.

"Shut your trap." She said. We both grabbed our books and started to walk down the hallway. At first, she was ahead of me, so I started walking faster, and then, in the blink of an eye, I was at least forty paces away from her.

"Better keep your eyes up." I called, turning around.

"Right. I was totally checking you out." She rolled her eyes. _I knew she was checking me out._ I smirked and ran a hand through my hair."And just so you know, you passed our class." She opened the door beside her and strolled inside.

"Pssh! I did this on purpose, thank you." I rolled my eyes and trudged to the classroom.

"Mr. Potter, you're late." Professor Slughorn said as soon as I walked through the door.

I stopped and my mouth fell open.

"I'm late?!" I cried. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mat smirking. "Mattie literally just walked in! She should be late, too!"

"Well, Mr. Potter, Miss O'Leary entered the room before the bell rang." Professor Slughorn said.

"What bell?" I asked. Everyone in the class laughed behind me, so I put a hand behind my back and flicked them off.

"The bell that rings before class starts." He sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I didn't know we had a bell." I went to my seat, which was unfortunately beside Mattie, and sat down. Slughorn went back to teaching.

I glared at Mattie, who smiled at me sweetly.

I thought I was having a heart attack there for a minute, because out of nowhere, a sudden pang shot through my chest and stayed in my stomach, and then I felt my face start to get got. My head immediately snapped towards the front of the room.

What the hell was that?

I mentally shrugged it off, ran a hand though my shaggy black hair, and stared out the window. (Like this class even mattered, anyway.) From there, I could see a perfect view of the Quidditch Pitch. This year, if I was lucky, I could be Captain of the Quidditch Team. I could TOTALLY get us the cup this year! I mean, I've got some pretty great tactics, and I'm the best player on there.

And I guess I should admit it: Mat is pretty good, too. But I'm better.

_I'll always be better than Mattie O'Leary. _

After class was over, Mat left with her best friend, Anna Crowning, and I was finally free of her.

I caught up with Sirius, Remus, and Peter for lunch hour.

"That bloody bird keeps getting me in trouble." I said as we headed to the Great Hall. Remus rolled his eyes, Sirius snickered, and Peter was just out of it. "I've a detention tonight, because of her!"

"Really now?" Remus asked. "You say that same sentence at least three to four times a week, James."

"Well, there you go! She really does get me in trouble!" I groaned.

We walked into the Great Hall, ignoring all kinds of girly shrieks and giggles, and sat at the end of the Gryffindor table. Me, Sirius, and Peter had a mountain of food on our plates within a few seconds. Remus, on the other hand, pulled out a book and got to reading.

"So, what do you propose we do, Prongs?" Sirius asked with a mouth-full of food.

"What do you mean?" I asked, taking a big gulp of pumpkin juice. He swallowed.

"Don't you want to dos something about it? You know, O'Leary getting you in trouble and whatnot?" he asked. I thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess…But what could we do?" I asked, furrowing my brows. I glanced over at the end of the table.

Mat sat with Anna, separated from the other people at the table. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and laughed along with Anna. Anna noticed I was _just glancing _and cocked a brow at me. She jerked her head towards me, and Mat leaned forward to look. My head snapped back over to Sirius, who was grinning at me. In fact, the majority of the Gryffindor Table was staring and grinning at me.

"What?" I asked. Sirius leaned forward.

"You're blushing, mate." He said. Everyone snickered.

"No I'm not!" I untied my tie. "It's just hot in here." I said.

Later that night, me, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting in our dorms, talking about pranks and stuff.

"So what do you propose we do to O'Leary, Prongsie?" Sirius asked, throwing down a Quidditch a magazine and looking at me with a devious smirk.

I thought for a minute. What could we do? I mean, we've practically played all the tricks in the book…

"I'm not sure." I said. Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked at me, shocked.

"James Potter doesn't know what prank to play?" Sirius asked, his eyes wide. I threw myself backwards on my bed.

"What is there that we haven't already done?" I asked.

"Lots of things!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Like what?"

"I think you just don't want to prank Mattie." Remus said.

"What?!" I cried, shooting up. "Of course I want to! Why the hell wouldn't I? We pranked each other all the time! This isn't any different."

"You don't have to act all defensive." Remus smirked. You hardly ever saw Remus Lupin smirk, but when you did, you knew he was up to no good.

"I'm not!" I pointed at him. Sirius and Peter laughed.

"You're blushing again!" Peter squeaked. I turned around and slapped him upside the head.

"You know what? I'll prank her tonight! I swear to Godric." I growled, standing up. I rummaged around in my trunk and pulled something out. I turned around and held it out to show the boys. They all looked at me like I was insane. "Just you wait."

**A/N- How was it? Please Review! :) Thanks, love!**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two- **Mattie O'Leary**

"He _so _loves you." Anna laughed as James as his friends left the Great Hall. I rolled my pale green eyes.

"He's such a jerk." I shook my head. Anna cocked a brow.

"Right." She patted my shoulder.

"You ready to head back to class?"

"Yup. Let's go." She stood up and one-shouldered her backpack. I hung my cross-body bag on my shoulder.

"I really don't fancy Muggle Studies." Anna sighed. She was a muggle-born, so she knew a lot about the Muggle world, already.

"Me either." I said. I'm a pureblood, but I was raised in a half-blood family, so I knew a lot, too. "Well, I do kinda enjoy some of the Life Skills we're learning."

"Ugh. I don't. You know, next week, we're going to have to pair up with partners and take a Life Skills test." Anna sighed. I looked at her curiously.

"What?" I asked.

"We're going to pair up with a partner- of the opposite gender, dear god, help all of us girls- and we'll spend a week in a flat in London with them. Without magic. Just muggle things." She explained. I face-palmed myself.

"Dear Merlin, please don't let me be paired with James or Vincent." Both of those names gave me a headache.

"Did I hear my name?"

"Speak of the devil." Anna mumbled. We both turned around to see Vincent Gonzalez, standing there in front of two of his friends.

"Hey, baby! How's it goin'?" Vincent asked as he strode over to me. I cocked a brow and sighed. "You ready for our date Friday night?" he winked.

"We aren't going on a date!" I cried.

"We are now, hot stuff." He took a step back and looked me up and down.

"Mmm. You've got a great body." He said, wiggling his eyebrows. He leaned forward a little and smiled. "That skirt could be a little shorter, though." He whispered.

"Go away, or so help me, I will drop-kick you into next week!" Anna yelled, stepping in front of me.

Vincent smiled again and put his hands up.

"Okay, okay. I'll leave." He turned and walked towards his friends. "Mattie, wear something special for me, Friday, will you?" With that, he left. My blood was boiling and my fists were clenched tight.

"Damn him." I said. Anna turned to me with a sorry look on her face.

"You should report him to one of the teachers or something, Mattie." Anna said. We started walking back to class.

"He'll stop sometime." I waved it off and Anna sighed. "Sorry…"

"Mattie, you've at least got to learn to stand up for yourself." She said. "I won't always be there for you, you know?" I nodded.

"I know." I said. "It's just… I don't want any trouble."

"If only you'd act that way with Potter." Anna said quietly.

"Hey!" I cried. She _always _did that!

"What?" Anna asked, like nothing had happened.

"We weren't talking about him!" I said, throwing my hands up.

"Why're you getting so defensive about it?" Anan laughed, playfully shoving me. I shoved her back.

"I'm not!" I cried again.

"Yes, you are!" she was about to fall over laughing. I crossed my arms and put my pouty face on. I marched to class without her, but I could still hear her laughing.

I opened the classroom door to find the Marauders- James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They were the only ones in there.

They were all throwing balls of paper at each other, using magic. I sighed and went to my seat, which, unfortunately, was beside the one and only James Potter. He quit was he was doing and stared at me.

"What, James?" I asked. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and scowled at me.

"I'm still mad at you." He said. He's like a five-year-old, sometimes, I swear.

"You got me a detention, too!" I cried.

"You deserved it, though!" he argued. "I didn't!"

"You did, too!" I growled.

"Did not!" he said.

"Did too!" I said.

"Did not!" he said.

"Did too." I teased James.

"DID NOT!" he was getting angrier and angrier by the second, and it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen.  
"Did too." I whispered.

"DID NOT!" he yelled, jumping out of his seat.

"Mr. Potter, quit arguing with Miss O'Leary." Professor Binns droned from his desk. James huffed and crossed his arms, while I smirked.

"Teacher's Pet." James mumbled. I narrowed my eyes at him.

Every day, James and I fought like this. Actually a lot of times, we'd wrestle on the ground. He thinks I'm purposely tying to be mean to him or something. But I'm not! He's just so stupid!

If James wouldn't act like he does, none of this would happen. We'd still be best friends, like we were before we ever started Hogwarts. But instead, he's grown up to be cocky and rude and insensitive and- well, I could go on for days and days, believe me, but you get the point.

So, is it so bad that I act like this towards him?

If he could just change his ways…

"Professor, do we really have to just sit here for an hour?" James sighed. He put his feet up on the desk he was at and put his hands behind his head.

"Yes, Mr. Potter. It serves as punishment." Professor Binns said. "Miss O'Leary, I believe you should apologize to James for the incident from earlier in the day."

"What?!" I cried. Me? Apologize to James? I didn't even do anything wrong!

"You heard me, Miss O'Leary." I glanced at James, who was looking quite smug. "Apologize."

I turned to James and looked him dead in the eye. He cocked a brow and smirked.

"Go on. I'm waiting." James said.

I turned to face the front of the room in my seat and crossed my arms.

"Hmph."

"If you don't want to say you're sorry, you could just give me a little kiss on the cheek." James winked. I growled at him and squeezed my eyes shut tight.

"And you could kiss my arse!" I whipped back around to face him.

"Miss O'Leary!" Professor Binns exclaimed. "I told you to apologize to Mr. Potter! Do it now, or I'll be forced to give you another detention ."

I sighed and brushed my bangs back.

"Yes, sir." I opened my eyes and opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I tried again but, still, nothing came out. It was like it was impossible for me to apologize to James. Dear Merlin.

"Miss O'Leary…" Professor Binns tisk-ed from the front of the room.

"Imsorryjames…." I mumbled. James put a hand to his ear and leaned a tad closer towards me.

"What was that?" he asked with a cocky smirk on his face. I clenched my jaw.

That bloody smirk…

"I'M SORRY JAMES." I yelled. Professor Binns looked kind of amused- that's honestly a shocker- and James laughed a few times.

"Okay, I _guess_ I forgive you…" he trailed off.

"You guess?" I asked.

"I guess." He sighed.

"Why do you guess?!" I cried.

"Well….An apology isn't enough." James said a little more quietly. "If you did a favor for me, though, I'd forgive you all the way!"

I narrowed my eyes.

"What kind of favor?" I asked.

"I left my handy dandy magic mirror in the common room. If you could go get it, so I won't have to sit here and be bored out of my mind, that'd be great." He said.

James and Sirius used the mirror to talk, usually when they weren't supposed to. It was kind of like a phone, except it was portable, and you could see who you were talking to.

"But I can't leave. Professor Binns is right there." I said. James waved that off and smiled.

"I'll distract him."

"Okay, fine." I agreed. "If anyone can distract a teacher, it's definitely you." James laughed.

"Alright." He nodded. He stood up and walked to the front of the room. "Professor, can you come look at this, real quick?" he asked, putting a hand on Professor Binns' shoulder and guiding him to the nearest window. James started asking some-what-history-related questions about the Hogwarts grounds.

I carefully stood up and went to the front of the class. I tip-toed to the door and turned the door knob.

I managed to keep the door from creaking as I opened it-

_Splat._

_Bang! Bang!_

A bucket fell down beside me, meanwhile I stood outside of the classroom, dumbfounded and completely covered in something sticky. It smelt like maple syrup.

It was all in my hair. It was slowly making its way down my legs. It was making my clothes stick to me.

It was awful.

Professor Binns turned around quickly and instead of the angry outburst I expected, he was completely quiet. I looked up at him to find that his face was blood-red and his fists were clenched mighty tight. I nearly peed myself, I was so scared.

"MISS O'LEARY! YOU ARE TO STAY HERE AND CLEAN THIS AWFUL MESS UP NO MATETR HOW LONG IT TAKES! I WANT THE FLOOR TO SHINE WHEN YOURE DONE! IN FACT, I WANT THE ENTIRE CLASSROOM TO SHINE, BECAUSE YOU'LL DEFINTIELY BE CLEANING IT UP, TOO!" Professor Binns yelled. I flinched and my knees started to get a little weak.

"Y-yes, sir…" I said quietly. James had both his hands covering his mouth, holding in the laughter. When the Professor turned around, though, James immediately turned that into a 'Oh-my-god-is-this-really-happening-face'.

"Mr. Potter, your detention is over. Return to your dorm at once." Professor Binns said exasperatedly.

James gathered his things and strode past me with that damned smirk on his face and I watched him walk down the hallway, my eyes narrowed.

"Miss O'Leary, get to cleaning."

**A/N-Don't forget to Review! Thanks for reading! :) xoxo**


	4. Chapter 3

_**A/N- Here you go, loves! Please enjoy and review!**_

Chapter Three- **James Potter**

I ran into the dorm I shared with Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"I pranked her." I said proudly, throwing all my things onto the floor.

Sirius smirked, Remus cocked a brow, and Peter just looked confused.

"What'd you do to her, mate?" Sirius asked. He jumped onto my bed and I sat criss-cross beside him.

"Well, she tried to bite my head off, first," I explained, "and when she tried to apologize, I told her I'd forgive her _if _she went and got something for me. As soon as she walked out the door"- I was in tears laughing- "she was covered in syrup! The look on her face….Priceless! She'll have to spend weeks getting that off of her!"

"She wanted to apologize that bad, and you still pranked her?" Remus asked. I felt a little strange when he said that- it felt a little like something was pulling on my heart, or something.

I waved Remus off.

"Oh, hush, Moony." I said. "She deserved it anyway." Sirius snorted and Peter laughed.

Remus shook his head and buried himself under the covers on his bed.

"I'm going to bed." He sighed.

"Room for one more?" Sirius said suggestively. Remus peeked from the top of the covers over at him.

"No."

Sirius rolled his eyes and smirked. He looked at me and laughed.

"You know, Prongsie, you've dumped syrup on someone before." He thought for a moment. "Twice, I think."

I furrowed my brows.

"No I haven't!" I exclaimed. Sirius nodded.

"You have, mate. The first on a Slytherin, the second on Sheryl King." Sirius said.

He'd slept with Sheryl only a bloody million times. She wanted a relationship, but Sirius had his eye on someone else. (Cough, REMUS, cough.)

"Oh bloody hell." I sighed. I fell onto my back and Sirius went to his bed. "I'm going to sleep." I groaned. Sirius laughed.

"Nighty night." He said. I tugged my clothes of and pulled on my pajamas. When I got into bed, I noticed Sirius wasn't in his. He was creeping up on Remus.

He carefully lay beside Remus, who immediately pulled the covers off of himself and stared at Sirius.

"Go away, Padfoot." Remus said. Sirius laughed.

"And if I don't?" Sirius smirked. Me and Peter watched amusedly as Remus pushed Sirius off the bed and into the floor. He landed with a thud. "Damn…" He whispered. He got up and went to his own bed.

"G'night all." I laughed. Everyone said it back and I think that they all fell asleep pretty quick.

I thought about Mattie.

It sure as hell wasn't wrong, what I did. But every time I thought about that look on her face, I feel kind of….I dunno, bad?

Ah, it was probably nothing. _Just a weird night. I was probably just feeling pity for her sorry arse._

Later that week, the boys and I were having a noisy breakfast. All we could talk about was the Hogsmede trip we were going to take that day.

First thing, we were going to hit up Zonko's and stock up on pranking supplies.

Today there was an 'accident' in the teacher's lounge that left three teachers without their memory. _The mystery prankster didn't come up and admit that he'd- or she'd- done the deed. _Classes were cut.

I shoved a piece of bacon into my mouth and laughed at one of Sirius' jokes. Remus was reading, and Peter was playing with a spoon. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mat, who was sitting in front of Vincent Gonzalez. He was always around her… the bloke. I slightly turned my head to stare at them.

"Don't _you_ look great today." He smirked. She stared at him unhappily. Maybe she could see that he was staring at her chest, too, and I wasn't the only one.

"Will you please leave me alone?" She sighed.

"No." Vincent replied sweetly. He leaned forward and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Now, give me a kiss." He winked. She slapped his hand down.

"No." she said, annoyed. She jumped up and started walking towards the entrance to the school. Vincent followed close behind.

"Hey! Don't walk away from me!" He yelled. Then he stopped walking. "Ooh, but the view is pretty nice back here." He said. "Keep doing what you're doing."

Now usually, my mates and I would stare at her bum, too, and it was all fine, but for some reason, I really wanted to pop Vincent right in the mouth for doing that. I didn't get up, though, and instead I just watched. _If I were the one doing that to her, she'd be fine with it, I bet._

"James."

"James!"

"JAMES!"

"What?!" I jumped out of my daze and turned to Remus, Sirius, and Peter.

"What're you doing, mate?" Sirius asked. He thumped the side of my head.

"What do you mean?" I asked, scratching my head.

"You're just staring." Sirius said, furrowing his brows. I glanced back over to where Mat and Vincent were, but neither of them was there, anymore.

"I was just thinking! Godric." I groaned. Sirius rolled his eyes, and Remus just stared at me. "What?" I asked.

"You feel guilty, yet?" he asked. Remus was always excellent at reading people, _but I didn't feel guilty one bit. She deserved what she got!_

"No." I scoffed. "Of course not." I shook my head and waved him off, then continued eating.

The rest of Breakfast was full of things like, "Sirius, I don't want to play footsie with you" and "C'mon, Moony, lighten up".

Me, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had been in Zonko's for what seemed like years. We had a blast, and I swear we spent 300 Galleons.

After a hard day of working like that, we decided to grab a butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks.

The first person I saw in there was Anna. She was up front, sitting on a bar stool. Me and the boys took a booth seat.

"You here with that boyfriend of yours?" Sirius sneered over at her. Anna had shot him down(totally rejected him) around a year ago and ever since then, they haven't gotten along. Anna shook her head and walked closer to our table.

"No. He was busy today." Anna said. She turned her head towards me and smirked. "I'm waiting for Mattie. She's on a _date_."

"She's with the bloody Gonzalez, isn't she?!" I cried, jumping up. Anna started laughing/

"Ooh….Someone's jealous!" she snickered. I glared at her.

"I'm not jealous." I said. "Why would I be jealous? Gonzalez is a cu-"

"She's with Gilderoy." She said.

"Lockhart?!" I asked.

"Yup." Anna smirked again, and then she turned on her heel and went back up to the bar. I sat back down and stared at the floor.

"How the hell does someone like Lockhart get a girl like Mat?" I asked no one in particular.

Lockhart was so annoying and all he ever did was brag about his 'good looks' and 'marvelous adventures' that I swear to Godric he's never even been on. There's no way Mat could like _him_.

"Why does it matter?" Sirius asked. He sounded serious (which was rare, believe me) but he didn't look it. I clenched my jaw and glared daggers at him.

"It doesn't." I growled. "I just don't understand how someone like _him _could get _Mattie._"

Remus sighed.

"Oh, James. When will you learn?" I heard him mumble.

"Hm?" I asked. My temper was rising. Remus looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"Lockhart has soe3mthign that every girl wants." Remus said. Me, Sirius, and Peter listened intently. "A Romantic side."

"A romantic side?" I scoffed.

I'd never thought about having one of _those _in my entire life. I didn't one. _I was already pretty perfect anyway._

Sirius glanced over and then back to the three of us. He pointed to the far corner of the room, and we all turned to see Lockhart and Mattie, sitting at a booth together.

I kind of expected Lockhart to've taken her to that Madame Puddifoots place, or whatever it's called.

Lockhart had his golden hair pulled back with a black ribbon (which was seriously girly and anything but manly), and Mattie had her chili-chocolate hair braided. She looked pretty hot, like usual.

There was a small smile on her face, and a big one on Lockhart's. He reached for her hand, and she took it, alright.

I growled and threw myself back in the seat.

"He doesn't deserve her!" I groaned. "Ugh."

"Oh, come now." Remus just had to jump in. "They seem pretty well together."

"I think so, too, mate." Sirius added.

"Well, they aren't! There's no way she really likes him!" I exclaimed.

"He seems to like her, at least." Sirius said.

"Yeah, probably because of that body. What else is there to like?" I rolled my eyes.

"A lot more than what you can see." Remus stared at me from across the table. We were all quiet, until I stood up.

"I'm going back to Hogwarts." I said. I waved them all goodbye nonchalantly and walked out of The Three Broomsticks with my hands shoved in my pockets.

Mattie didn't even look my way... _Which I really didn't mind- it'd be weird if she did anyway._

I got a carriage and couldn't help but keep thinking about Mattie and Lockhart. How in heavens could they be dating? It was so…I dunno, weird, maybe? I'm not sure what it was, but their relationship made me feel sick. Honest.

Mattie was hot. And Gilderoy, for all I knew, liked guys. It was obviously a bad match.

If you ask ME, Mattie needs someone who's of greater or equal hotness, and someone who can balance out her insane personality. Like me! _I'm excellent myself and I'm sure I could straighten her out. _

My mind cut back to Lockhart. I could imagine him kissing her so perfectly, and, well, I dunno what was happening to me…But I felt soooo terrible. I clenched my fists and locked my jaw. What the hell was going on with me?

The more I thought about them, the angrier I got. Finally, I just exploded.

"UGH! I vow to Godric that I will do everything in my power to make Mattie want ME!" I yelled, jumping up. I nearly fell out of the moving carriage.

The third years sitting around me all jumped, and they were trembling as I sat down.

"Forgot you guys were here…"

_**A/N- DOn't forget to review! Thanks for reading! :)**_


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four- Mattie O'Leary

"Oh, bloody hell!" I spat at Severus Snape. He glared at me.

"It's true, and you know it." He nodded slowly. His greasy black hair fell over one eye and he pushed it away from his face.

"It is NOT, Snape." I shook my head and clenched my jaw.

"Fine, fine, believe whatever you want." He said resignedly. I rolled my eyes, and before he could say anything else, I just walked away.

I heard him huff and stomp off, and just when I thought I was alone, I heard the thudding of footsteps. The next thing I know, James Potter is walking beside me.

"Go away." I sighed. I was still mad at him for pranking me.

Getting syrup in your hair is probably the worst thing that can ever happen. Lucky me, an entire bucket was poured on me.

"What were you and Snivellous talking about?" James asked, ignoring my telling him to go away. I clenched my fists.

"None of your business." I said. I really was trying to control my temper, but he's just SO annoying! I glared at him from the corner of my eyes.

"C'mon, tell me!" James whined. "I bet that dirty grease ball was trying to get you do some nasty Slytherin stuff!" James stopped in place and raised one finger into the air. He closed his eyes and smile, and because the scene was so stupid, I just had to stop and watch. "But don't worry; I'll protect you from him!"

"Protect me?" I asked. I cocked one brow and pushed his finger down. He opened one eye in surprise. "I don't need you to protect me. I can handle myself just fine." I started to walk away, but he followed me, of course. "And for your information, James Potter, he wasn't trying to get me to do anything."

James gave a fake laugh.

"Of course he wasn't." He held both his hands out. "Because Slytherins NEVER try to trick anyone. Now do they?"

"Can you just leave me alone?" I quit walking and turned to him. He smirked and crossed his arms.

"No."

"Why?"

"I want to hang out with you."

"Go jump in a lake." I turned back around and continued walking, but of course, James was following me. Again.

"I'd love to. As long as you go with me. And as long as you wear a bikini." James clicked his tongue and laughed at his joke. I bit my bottom lip.

"Go. The. Hell. Away." I growled.

"Make me." He said triumphantly. He knew I didn't have a comeback, and I could just see him smirking, even though he was behind me.

I started walking a little faster, but James kept up with me, so finally, I broke out into a sprint and headed to Gryffindor Tower, where I could hide in my dorm.

I was faster than James (which he was SO jealous of, believe me), but he wasn't too far behind. I beat him to the tower and ran through the common room, up to my dorm. Once I was inside, I locked the door and threw myself onto my four-poster bed.

I put a hand on my cheek- it felt like I had a fever.

Why would James want to hang out with me? I mean, he just pranked me, he hadn't even looked at me since that same day, and we were always at each other's throats. Obviously he's upset with me. The big baby.

James was being kind of…nice, too. Of course, I could see right through it. He wants something probably. After all, there's no way he could have a sudden change of heart. Is there?

I groaned. James was hard to understand. Not that I even cared, but still, it drove me insane.

I thought back to Snape. We made a bet over The Marauders.

I bet him one-hundred Galleons that Slytherin would lose the first Quidditch game against Gryffindor, but then he started ranting about how awful Gyrffidnor was, and how 'marvelous' Slytherin was and just loads and loads of bullocks.

The oaf drives me insane sometimes.

I wouldn't call us friends, but we aren't enemies either. I'll stand up for him when The Marauders tease him, but then I'll prank him, too. The feeling is mutual, I guess. Even though he's a snobby, two-faced git.

Then I thought about Gilderoy Lockhart. We went on a date Friday, and tomorrow (Tuesday) we were going on another. Every girl in Hogwarts- including Teachers and Staff- fantasized over his shiny blonde hair, and his bright green eyes, and his perfect smile. Even me! I was surprised when he asked me if I'd go on a date with him, because I kind of thought hat maybe he'd go for someone a little more… good-looking? That's what he looked for, I thought.

Basically, I thought he was arrogant arse who only cared about the size of a girl's breasts and bum (Or, in other words, I thought he was another typical James Potter), but on our date, he proved to me that he was so much more than that. Even though he wasn't the most understanding guy, or the most sensitive, he was romantic. And that's what I really want right now- someone romantic. Though I can't say it wouldn't be nice to have someone who was both sensitive and understanding, too. Anyway, Gilderoy treated me like I was special, and now every time I see him, my heart beats a little faster. It's great.

I was lost in my thoughts while I sat on my bed and braided my 'chili-chocolate' (as Anna likes to call it) hair, but a quick knock, knock snapped me into reality.

"Oh, Mattie….!" Someone sang. I recognized it as James voice. I wasn't sure just how he got up the stairs- since they turned into one big slide as soon as a boy even touched them- but I didn't bother to ask. James was as sneaky as a Slytherin, but he didn't quite notice it.

I held my breath and thought about pretending that I wasn't there, but that really wouldn't do me any good.

"James, please leave me alone!" I cried, shoving a pillow n my face and falling backwards on my bed.

"If you let me in, and let me talk to you for a bit, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day, and tomorrow." James said. He didn't sound honest, and I really didn't want to take the chance, but if I didn't, James really would bug me on my date with Gilderoy.

Gidleroy would dump me in a heartbeat!

I got up and just barely cracked the door.

"What do you need, you bloke?" I asked. He leaned against the door frame and stuck his face close to the door. A smirk suddenly appeared on his lips.

"You know, your room smells like Maple Syrup." He said. I felt a blush of embarrassment creep up on my cheeks, and I almost slammed the door in his face right then and there, but as soon as I pulled back to do it, he caught the side of the door and pushed his way into the dorm.

I groaned, and he jumped onto my bed.

"Oh, hush. Any other bird would go bonkers if I went into their room." James winked. I pretended to gag, but James ignored me. "I brought you something."

I looked at him curiously.

"You brought me something?" I asked suspiciously. James handed me an envelope. I was honestly afraid to open it, but I did anyway.

Inside was a Quidditch-themed Birthday card with a picture of James in it.

"Speechless." James whispered, cupping his hands together and grinning. I looked up from the card and started laughing.

"You brought me….a birthday card….with a picture of…you as a… present?" I laughed. James looked at me like I was crazy.

"Well, yeah." He said, as if his present was completely ordinary. I shook my head.

"Okay first of all, it's not my birthday. Second, I don't want a picture of you." I said. I put the picture into the card, and the card into the envelope. James snatched the envelope out of my hands and held it like it was a baby.

"I even autographed it..." He said. I shrugged and held my hands up.

"Sorry, but I'm not a fan girl." I said. James looked at me, horror-stricken at first. His eyes started to narrow and he clenched his jaw.

"Right. The only thing you are is _difficult_." James growled.

I rolled my eyes and ran a hand through my hair.

"Lockhart'll see that soon enough." He continued. I narrowed my eyes at him and we starred at each other for a moment, without blinking. I never noticed, but James actually had very pretty eyes- instead of them just being dark brown, they became lighter the closer to the pupil. A ring of gold was around his pupil.

James closed his eyes, smirked, and lay back on my bed with his hands behind his head. "You love me, don't you?"

"What?"

**A/N- Sorry, loves, this one is a tad shorter than the other Chapters, because this was hoenstly just a filler chapter. I'm trying to work in Mattie's character. :)**

**But ooh, what's Mattie going to say? **

**Thanks for reading! I'll update soon! :) I love you all to the moon and back.**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N-**** This Chapter is a tad bit shorter than the rest, and it's also a little quicker to the point. But HEY! It's very important! and I think you'll enjoy it**

**I hope you like it! Don't forget to favorite and follow and review, love! :) Thanks!**

Chapter Five-

I stared up at the ceiling, smirking.

"I know you do." I said. When she was quiet, I propped myself up on my elbows to look at her.

Her hair was in a long, loose braid, and I've never noticed before, but her hair color made her eyes stand out. They were a bright, pale green, with flecks of gold in the middle.

"No." she started. I snapped out of my trance. Why would I care what color her eyes were, anyway? "I don't."

"Oh, yes you do, Mat. If you didn't," I explained, "you wouldn't act so crazy around me."

"Crazy?!" she gave me an incredulous look. I just rolled my eyes.

"You're always acting tough and spazzy and whiny." I said. She growled. _Must have been some flirtatious thing. She did that a lot._

"James Potter," she pointed at me with a shaking finger, "I act the way I do because you are AN INSENSITVE, ARROGANT, UNCARING ARSE AND I CANT STAND YOU! YOU HAVE NO IDEA JUST HOW BIG-HEADED AND RUDE YOU ARE! UGH! YOU COULDN'T ACT SERIOUS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT! YOU ACT LIKE YOU'RE SO MUCH BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE AND YOU DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT ANYONE BUT YOURSELF! YOU PLAY AROUND WITH EVERY GIRL AND MESS WITH THEIR HEADS! AND YOU DON'T CARE WHO YOU HURT!" She yelled. "You are terrible. You have no idea just what you do. Like you'd even care, though! You've never been considerate in your life! Nothing matters to you." Mattie finished.

Her hand dropped and she caught her breath. She glared daggers at me.

Never in my life have I ever let anything get to me. _I know I'm amazing and I know people are jealous of me. _But what Mattie said really stung.

I stared at her in disbelief.

Was it true? Was I really…all of those things?

I started to feel a lot of pressure around my eyes, and, even though I really didn't want to admit it, my eyes started to well up with tears.

Mattie crossed her arms and opened her door.

"Get out." She said. I took a deep breath and walked out of the room. She slammed the door behind me, and I swear I could hear a faint little cry from outside of the door. I stumbled down the stairs and then went all the way to my dorm.

I actually lay in bed and cried for a bit, after putting a silencing charm on the dorm and locking the door.

Maybe I sounded like a complete and total baby right then, but Merlin, it hurt to hear how terrible I am after seven years of thinking I was great.

That bird made me cry. And I think I made her cry, too.

Nothing made sense to me.

How could I be all of those things? Everyone at school loved me! They loved my jokes. My pranks. My looks. Everything. Didn't they?

I thought it over for a long time, and I still couldn't believe that I was anything like what Mattie said. SO many people looked up to me. I was Captain of the Quidditch Team. Every girl wanted me. Lots of people wanted to be me. So how could I be so bad?

And if I'm so bad… Well, have I been like this my whole life?

Whether I was so terrible or not, I came upon a decision.

I was going to prove Mattie O'Leary wrong. I was going to show her that I was the opposite of all those things, no matter what. And then she'll see just how great I can be. Bloody hell, I'm going to make her so jealous! She'll probably want me even more than she already does, when I get so great.

I took a shower and cleaned myself up before Sirius, Remus, or Peter could come into the dorm and see my face. I'd die if they saw me in the state I was in.

By the time I got out, the lads were in the dorm. Remus, of course, was cuddled up with a book, Sirius was trying to get his attention, and Peter was trying to balance a book on his head.

"Prongsie! There you are!" Sirius jumped up from his bed and hurried over to me while I was towel-drying my hair. He stopped when I put my head up. "Are you alright, mate? You're looking a bit sick."

"I'm fine." I nodded. Sirius nodded, too, and he started jabbering on about some prank ideas he'd just come up with.

Later when Peter was out cold and Sirius was snoring away (like he does every night, dear Godric), I rolled over in bed to face Remus' bed. He was still up, reading his book.

"Remus?" I asked. He didn't put his book down, but he did reply.

"Yes, James?" he sighed.

"What does it mean when you're insensitive?" I asked.

That was the first thing Mattie had called me. Insensitive. I had no clue what it meant, to be honest.

"Well… when you're insensitive, you don't feel much. You don't take account of anyone's feelings. You can't be impressed or affected." Remus explained. I nodded.

So, I suppose I wasn't affected by anything, and I wasn't impressed. _There wasn't much to be impressed about here, anyway, though._ I guess I didn't think about other people either.

I rolled my eyes.

I thought about the Slytherins, and Lockhart, and Mattie all the time. I didn't necessarily have good thoughts, but I was still thinking about them. And I thought about Lily, and Sirius and Remus, and even Peter, too.

How in blazes could I be insensitive, if these blokes crossed my mind all day?

I mentally sighed.

"Thanks, mate." I said, rolling over. I closed my eyes.

"Why?" Remus asked. I heard him close his book, and he turned his lamp on.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Why do you need to know?" I could hear him getting situated in bed, and to my right, Sirius mumbled something that was far from understandable .

"I was just curious." I kind of lied.

"Okay." Remus said after a few minutes of silence. "G'night, James."

"Night." Just like that, I was out.

Tomorrow, I'd start getting great, for sure.

**A/N- Aha, we've reached a conflict!**

**I'll update soon! :) Thank you very much for reading!**

**Favorite, Follow, and Review. **


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